Bad Habits

Hearing that our new president is struggling with his nicotine demon gave me hope and the urge to rush right out and get some cigarettes. A solidarity move. I know cigarettes are the bane of my generation. I don't get downtown much during business hours so I don't see how many adults are huddled outside sucking in as much nicotine and smoke as they can in 5-8 minutes. But what I do notice is the number of car windows partly rolled down with thin wisps of gray smoke twirling out of moving vehicles. The private vehicle is the last sanctuary for smokers. Inhaling deep, thoughtful breaths while listening to Mozart, exhaling your worries and anxieties right out of that car window and counting the minutes until your next date with a cigarette. When I think about smoking I don't think about the person with facial reconstruction due to throat cancer. What I think about is Truman Capote wearing a silk scarf, smoking while considering and composing In Cold Blood. I don't smoke but I miss it and clearly, I think about it more than is wise and prudent. We all know that those lustful thoughts lead to bad choices.